The area I'm from...(don't laugh)(I was wonderful and I totally miss it)...
And a song to go with it...
Ok...now we're ready to write...you know me...I like to set the tone for each post I publish...
I was raised in this area...a small rural area, yet near a larger area, and a few Universities...
It was innocent, kind, small and simple...everyone was trustworthy, and hardly no one ever broke the law...no felonies, nothing...just youthful mischief...
Looking back, it was the safest place I've ever lived in all my life.
And looking back...I realize now I totally took the place for granted.
I was shielded from a lot back then...
And I'm a minority...or would be considered one...but fit in naturally there, cause it's where I grew up...and when you grow up in a place...the community just accepts you as if you're one of them, cause you end up reflecting them...treated like family, sleep overs, ect...it was all normal there.
(Now it's about to get ugly)...
Then you leave, head to larger urban areas...thinking the world that awaits is the world you learned from on TV...where everything is proper and orderly...
And as a minority...you leave for the city...thinking that all minorities, blacks, Hispanics, Indian ect...get along, like you saw on TV shows or music videos...
Instead you go to the city, SE cities, and see poverty, ghettos that stretch through the whole city...black killing, masaquering other blacks, gangs, violence, self hate, hostility, rage, poverty, welfare, single mothers living on section 8 and more, pimps, dealers, thieves, robbers and more...
Then and only then do you reflect and start to realize how special the place you came from was...
No crime...no thugs, no ghettos...no males wearing saggy pants...
No generational crime families or cycles...
None of that...
Where I came from..
All males spoke proper and wore normal work jeans...Levis, Wranglers, boots, plad shirts...things that were practical, not nessicarily stylish.
Two parent households were the norm, not rare exeption...as such hobbits grew up learning how to respect authority and fear God...as such stayed out of trouble...(other than normal teenage mischief type stuff)...
You could leave your bike at the park, come back the next day and if anything there'd be two bikes...no one stole...cause everyone had...
The youth had families who provided for them...as such no one was desperate...
Was it a totally perfect place...no...you had your typical 'Fast times at Ridgemont High' type antics...
The Stoner crowd, the weed crowd, the beer Cage crowd and so on...but no one got hurt...cause at the end of the day or night you had to go back home, and face your parents...
In other words there was accountability...you had to answer for what you did while out.
Sorry, but these were the good old days...when youth were kept in line by loving, caring, yet strict parents.
They still gave you enough room to be 'rebel' to explore 'self' whatever...but at the end of the day, night...you always had to return to Mom and Dad...and if you did anything wrong or acted up, it was their wrath you had to face...
The cops were the least of your worries...parents were feared more back then...
People from inner city urban areas, who have never experienced the above...not sure what to say...
But I live in rough inner city area now...and I can totally see the difference...like night and day or heaven and hell...
One community preserves life, the other community destroys life...or culture I should say...but many where I stay, just don't know better, have never seen anything else...think the whole world, planet is just one gigantic ghetto or hood...not so...
Even here, if you drive just 3-10 miles out of the city...things begin to change...
And finally...if you're from a small rural town, in Kansas, Nebraska, Washington State, Idaho, don't be in a rush to leave...it's better there than you think...
Not that all cities or urban areas are nightmarish...cause some are nice, decent...just depends on where you live, and you're social circle I suppose.
Sometimes you can live in the city and never see the ugly side.
Anyways...long post...better wrap it up...I just felt like reflecting a bit...
Simple little towns like this...Lewiston/Clarkston...by the Snake River...
As a minority, believe it or not, towns like this don't hurt your self esteem, or self worth...it's when you move to larger areas, and all the minority males use the racial slang to describe self and others like them...that's when your self esteem begins to wither a bit.
I Lived in communities like this while growing up, and I can say without a doubt that the people (at least then) living there were 10 times more respectful towards myself than thug types living in the city.
Two totally different worlds, cultures, mindsets...even racist people were still kind and respectful...compared to your average street goon you have to walk past while going to the store...
Because I was raised in these areas...I really see the difference family and structure plays in society.
With it, you have a future...without it you have inner city Chicago...later...
